STEAM (STEM + ARTS) News in Review: 3/11/2022

Our STEAM (STEM + Arts) News in Review for this week. Below are the articles we read and wanted to share. Enjoy!

Cities as powerful weapons against Climate Change. The UN's most recent climate report paints a dire picture for the species of Earth, but cities are key in the effort to combat these stark outcomes. The extensive report was authored by hundreds of researchers from 67 countries reviewed more than 34,000 scientific references! Significant findings of the rapidly rising temperatures and impending extinctions are grave. Cities have the potential to be solutions whereby we practice “climate-resilient development” in order to reduce carbon emissions and harness energy in creative ways. Solutions like using innovative reflective material use, electric cars, roads that store rainwater, and increasing green spaces are just a few opportunities we need urban designers to embrace. We have no time to lose!

WIRED: Cities Are Unlikely Yet Powerful Weapons to Fight Climate Change

How to talk to your kids about tough things! The recent news has many of us on edge and grappling with how to process tragedies happening around us with our kids. In this article, find support from child development experts. A few of the tips they share include: limit your child's exposure, be curious and ask what your kids know and how that makes them feel, share facts and context with kids, encourage kids to process through play and art. Finally, not surprisingly Fred Rogers’ advice is still relevant. "When something scary is happening, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping”. Focus on how people are taking care of others around them. Kids’ outlooks on the world depend on it.

Mindshift: War, Crisis, Tragedy: How to talk with kids when the news is scary

Smartwatches that detect COVID? There is a new breed of diagnostic tools using data from smartwatch sensors to provide non-invasive COVID tests. The new app called CovidDeep can predict within minutes whether someone is infected with COVID-19 It stemmed from research from Princeton University, specifically from professor Niraj Jha’s team, from the electrical and computer engineering department. They have been developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology for COVID-19 detection, as well as diagnosis of other chronic conditions. CovidDeep has been through trials and their models have shown to be 98.1% accurate in their predictions. You can read all the details in their paper in IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics describing the development and testing of CovidDeep.
Princeton University Engineering News: Deep-learning diagnoses: Edge AI detects COVID-19 from smartwatch sensors

The Women Who Changed Architecture is a new book that chronicles the achievements of more than 100 women in architecture. If you’re looking for some female inspiration the work documents the triumphs and challenges of female architects and their impact on the built environment. It features essays and biographies by Jan Cigliano Hartman, Beverly Willis, Amale Andraos, Eileen Gray, Charlotte Perriand, Florence Knoll, and Zaha Hadid. Some names may be familiar but many have gone largely unrecognized despite their impressive achievements and contributions. This book puts females’ work at the center and celebrates these unsung heroes!

Dwell: Modern Architecture’s Male-Dominated History Just Got a Major Rewrite

Perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo found in China Yes, we are still discovering new dinosaur fossils! This one is lauded to be the “best ever” dinosaur embryo found due to its pristine state and detail showing the embryo about to hatch from its shell, just like a chicken. The discovery has also given researchers a greater understanding of the link between dinosaurs and modern birds. The fossil shows the embryo was in a curled position known as "tucking", which is a behavior seen in birds shortly before they hatch, creating an ancestral link between modern birds and the dinosaurs!

BBC News: Perfectly preserved dinosaur embryo found in China

AI generated voices bring a new level of realness to entertainment In the recent series that covers the life of famed artist Andy Warhol a new AI technology blended footage of the artists’ real voice with the actor from the series creating a ”deepfake” version of Andy’s voice. The creators of the series were focused on being able to capture Warhol’s vulnerability in and by using his real voice and speech patterns it gives viewers the closest thing to a live version of the artist possible. Have a listen and see if you appreciate the almost voice of Andy.

Smithsonian: Hear an A.I.-Generated Andy Warhol ‘Read’ His Diary to You in New Documentary